He quickly became a valuable youth player for the Werkself albeit at first in attack. He won the district the title with the U15s, the Middle Rhine championship with the U17s and with the U19s in 1956 he progressed to the final of the West German championships again Schalke 04. The first game ended all square at 4-4 with Haarmann scoring two goals. Leverkusen lost the replay 3-2. Alongside Günter Haarmann were Heinz Höher, Egon Rosinski and Helmut Weber All future first-team players and Haarmann was a regular first choice from 1958. He won the Oberliga West 2 with Bayer 04 four years later and he played one season in the Oberliga West 1 with his teammates. Highlights there included home games against FC Köln and Schalke 04 in front of almost full houses at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
Haarmann's coaches were convinced that his qualities were more valuable in defence so he became a defender. But he did not lose his ability to score. A couple of years later, the Leverkusen-born player became a first choice in the team that won the Regional League West in 1968 and just missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga in the play-off against Kickers Offenbach. After over 500 games for Bayer 04 (including friendlies), the chemical laboratory assistant at Bayer AG could no longer agree a new contract with the club so he joined SV Bergfied in Leverkusen as a player coach. He later went on to coach at Aufderhöhe and in Monheim.
Günter Haarmann went into a well deserved retirement after 38 years working for the chemical company. He has been a member of TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen for over 70 years and has lived with his wife in Küppersteg for over 50 years. He still watches his club’s home games today whenever he can.
Dear Günter, I wish you many happy returns and above all good health
Michal ‘Katsche’ Kadlec was born in the Czech town of Vyskov on 13 December 1984. At the age of six, he moved to the Pfalz region in Germany with his parents because his father Miroslav accepted an offer from FC Kaiserslautern where he played as a sweeper for the Red Devils for eight years. Katsche learned German in the kindergarten at Kaiserslautern. And he played football at an early age: first as a teenager at SV Alsenborn and then for FC Kaiserslautern.
Show moreHelmut Röhrig was born in Leverkusen on 14.12.19 44. He learned to play football at Bayer 04 and became a Middle Rhine champion with the U19s in 1963 finishing ahead of FC Köln. He played in the second team at the Werkself in his first year in senior football.
Show moreBernd Schuster was born in Augsburg on 22.12.19 59. His first club as a teenager was local side SV Hammerschmiede. From that time there was an anecdote that a former groundsman told us when we had a Pokal game in Augsburg in 1993. Bernd was always the first person on the training ground after school. With a running track around the pitch and goals without nets, the young Bernd practised free kicks and corners in the knowledge that he had to collect the ball himself. In that way he not only practised his technique but also worked on his stamina as a teenager.
Show moreWolfgang ‘Wolle’ Rolff was born on 26.12.1959 in Lamstedt, a community in the Lower Saxony administrative district of Cuxhaven. He started his football career at TSV Lamstedt. He moved on to OSC Bremerhaven with the U17s as he trained to be a retail salesman. He started in senior football at the Nordsee Stadium in Bremerhaven.
Show moreThe 1969/70 season begins with four defeats for Bayer 04. That puts the team coached by Theo Kirchberg bottom of the table. The Werkself only lift themselves out of the relegation zone on Matchday 10 with a 4-2 away win in Marl-Hüls. The position in the table improves over the course of the season.
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